Each day that passed, was doing so at a slower and slower pace. Jake was now home with Danielle, and Gibbs was only in charge of getting him off the bus and the afternoon snack until she came home from work. This particular day, began like any other.

He walked in, took a seat at his desk and greeted his agents as they came in. He sipped his coffee, deleted his emails before reading them and took phone calls from people he didn't like. It was getting to be routine and the more routine it got; the more he started to miss Tony.

"Boss…" The word came with a tone Gibbs hadn't heard in days.

He stood up and walked behind McGee's desk. "You got something McGee?"

"How'd you know?"

"I know that tone…now tell me what you got before I take your chair out from under you."

"Right…he used his phone boss, well or someone else used his phone…either way…its triangulating, I'll have a location in…3…2…1…got it!"

Ziva heard the conversation and already had her weapon holstered. The two of them followed and with a slight jog, each of them headed towards the elevator.

---

The three approached the warehouse with caution; no cars were out front, but it was still early in the morning. Gibbs directed each of them as they entered, clearing the area, the best they could.

"Tony's car boss." McGee pointed and each started in that direction.

The car was clean. "Do you hear that?" Ziva started to peer around.

"I don't hear anything." McGee commented, as he looked in the same areas she was.

Gibbs and McGee followed as she led them towards the sound, and they followed even faster as she raced to untie their missing agent's hands.

McGee removed the gag from Tony's mouth, and after coughing a few times he couldn't help himself. "Why wouldn't you take my gag out before you untie my hands?" He asked Ziva who was now working on the ties around his ankles.

"Do you really have to ask?" She smiled up at him.

"What the hell happened DiNozzo?" Gibbs moved his face from side to side observing the bruises.

"Nice to see you too boss…well its all kind of funny actually."

"I doubt it." Gibbs replied. "Now spit it out before I put that gag back in your mouth."

"Right…" He cleared his throat, and rubbed around his wrists. "When I was doing the surveillance, ya see, well, I got picked up."

"Picked up by who?"

"Well actually, it was more of a what. The guy was just huge…and he literally picked me up and took me to the back of the bar….he was the owner so no one questioned the move…anyhow, he was convinced I was a cop and brought me here to get out what we knew about him…I of course stuck with the idea that I was there to pick up chicks…and the rest is history."

As his hands fell to his sides, it took everything inside of Gibbs to resist a good head slap. "DiNozzo, you had me worried sick!"

All three of them resisted the urge to laugh, as their boss uncharacteristically quoted a cliché, let a lone that one.

"Gee dad, I would've called…"

"Speaking of that…" McGee began.

"Ah, that's how ya found me isn't it Probie? Well it must've been his teenage kid, he's been working on stripping my car, probably found the phone and used it to dial 1-900 numbers or something…"

"That is the one and only time I ever want to hear that phrase come out of your mouth DiNozzo…McGee, Ziva stay here and set up surveillance."

"Where are we going boss?" Tony asked with a wince of pain as Gibbs grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the exit.

"I made a promise I gotta cash in on."

----

As Gibbs played interference with a certain secretary, Tony was able to make his way down to his son's room. And he couldn't help but smile as he saw Jake come racing down the hallway to hug him moments later.

"Thanks for keeping your promise Uncle Gibbs, I knew you would!"

He patted him on the back a few times and laughed. "It wasn't just me Jake; sometimes it doesn't hurt to ask for some help."

As they headed out towards the car, Miss Bellicino continued her ranting from the doorway of the school.

"What is that about boss?"

Gibbs smiled. "It seems I had her unnecessarily detained a few days ago."

Tony laughed. "You didn't…not the old missing crazy woman pick up trick? I wanted to use that one first boss."

Gibbs then gave him a quick head slap as they got into the car. As they started to drive away, Jake took off his seatbelt and sat up, slapping both his dad and uncle on the back of the head.

Both Gibbs and Tony turned back to look at him. "What was that for son?"

He shrugged, wondering why they looked upset.

"Because I love you guys too!"

--

AN: See Ch. 1 for last line tie in :)

I will be answering all of the questions from your reviews soon! I promise. You will not be disappointed. Feel free to let me know what you'd like to see during this series! Take care, -TLH